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Glossary

52-Week High/Low

The 52-week high and low are the highest and lowest prices at which a stock has traded over the previous 52 weeks, used as reference points for its recent price range.

What Is a 52-Week High/Low?

A 52-week high is the highest price a security has traded at during the past 52 weeks, and a 52-week low is the lowest. Together they form the stock's one-year trading range. Because 52 weeks is roughly a year, the measure gives investors a quick sense of where the current price sits relative to recent activity. Financial websites and brokerage platforms often show both figures alongside the last traded price.

How It Works

The lookback window moves forward every trading day. Older sessions drop out of the period as newer ones are added. If a stock trades above its previous 52-week high, that new price becomes the high. If it falls below the previous low, the low resets. Many providers base these figures on intraday trading, so they may reflect prices reached during the day rather than closing prices. Others use closing prices, so definitions can differ between sources. Historical figures may also be adjusted for stock splits and dividends.

Why Investors Look at It

Traders often watch these levels as technical reference points. A stock approaching its 52-week high may draw attention from people tracking momentum, while one near its low may draw interest from those looking for possible value. The range also hints at how much a stock has moved over the year. A wide gap between high and low suggests larger price swings, which is a sign of volatility. A move beyond a previous high or low is sometimes called a breakout or breakdown, but such moves do not guarantee that the trend will continue.

Limitations

These figures describe past prices only. They say nothing about a company's future performance or its underlying financial health. A stock at its 52-week low may be undervalued, or it may be falling for sound reasons, and the range alone cannot show which. Investors usually review it alongside other information, such as earnings and price-to-earnings ratio.

Updated October 14, 2026. For general education only; not financial, tax or legal advice.

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Related Terms

Stock Split

A stock split is a corporate action that increases the number of a company's shares outstanding while proportionally lowering the price of each share, leaving the company's total market value unchanged.

Dividend

A dividend is a payment a company makes to its shareholders, usually in cash or additional shares, as a way of distributing part of its profits.

Volatility

Volatility is a statistical measure of how much and how quickly an asset's price moves up or down over a given period, with higher volatility indicating larger price swings.

Earnings

Earnings are a company's profit over a given period, calculated as revenue minus expenses, taxes, and other costs, usually reported quarterly and often called net income or the bottom line.

Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E Ratio)

The price-to-earnings ratio compares a company's share price with its earnings per share, showing how much investors pay for each dollar of annual profit.

Breakout

A breakout is a technical analysis event in which a security's price moves decisively above a resistance level or below a support level, often with heavier trading volume.

Moving Average (MA)

A moving average is a smoothed line showing the average price of a security over a set number of recent periods, updated as new data arrives, used to reduce short-term noise and identify trends.